Pistons Try To Emulate Red Sox

MIKE BERARDINO COMMENTARY

June 1, 2006|MIKE BERARDINO COMMENTARY

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Champions? Yes, they have earned as much in the past.

Whiners? Yep. The Detroit Pistons qualify there, too.

But idiots? Come again?

If they somehow wind up coming all the way back from a 3-1 hole in these Eastern Conference finals -- and Wednesday's 91-78 victory in Game 5 at the Palace was a sizable step in that direction -- these soap-operatic Pistons could qualify as junior idiots at the very least.

Better explain.

With his team facing elimination, Pistons coach Flip Saunders -- or is it Sanders? -- dug deep into his modest bag of motivational tricks. He gathered his splintering team Wednesday morning and screened a short highlight video about the 2004 Boston Red Sox.

Led by Johnny Damon, self-proclaimed leader of the Idiots, those Red Sox stormed back from a 3-0 series deficit to stun the mighty Yankees in the American League playoffs.

Saunders' message was simple: If the Red Sox could do it, why not these Pistons?

OK, so the tactic was a tad clichM-id and it's questionable how applicable it really was. I mean, did any of those Boston guys wear headbands or plastic faceguards? How many of these Pistons are doing shots of Jack Daniels before taking the court?

All that mattered Wednesday was that Saunders got his players' attention. Maybe for the first time all series, if you read much into the borderline-mutinous statements coming from the Detroit camp this week.

"Even though it's self-inflicted, we still liken ourselves to the Boston Red Sox when they were down against the Yankees," Pistons reserve Maurice Evans said before the tip. "They were down 3-0 and were able to come back. Anything can happen in professional sports."

And make no mistake, becoming the first team in baseball history to come back from a 3-0 hole was a far greater challenge than winning three straight against the Heat, especially with two of those three scheduled for the Palace.

(By the way, Damon is in town this week with his new team ... the Yankees. Too bad Saunders couldn't get him to stop by the shootaround for a little motivational chat about those '04 Sox. Or maybe that would have been too confusing for everybody involved.)

Credit the Pistons with showing the proper urgency and the champion's heart needed to extend their season.

They did it with Lindsey Hunter and Richard Hamilton hounding Dwyane Wade all night and somehow keeping him to just three free-throw attempts.

They did it with Antonio McDyess spending the early part of the fourth quarter knocking down baseline jumpers with a metronome's consistency. They did it with Prince coming up huge on a 29-point night.

They did it despite a combined 6-of-23 shooting from Chauncey Billups and Rasheed Wallace, still hobbling around on a bum ankle.

They did it by scoring the last nine points of the game.

They did it with the energy of a raucous Palace crowd fueling their effort, the same energy that carried them through a Game 7 against LeBron James in the last round and would be awaiting them should they bring this series back here for another Game 7 on Sunday.

But first the Pistons will have to find a way to steal Game 6 in Miami. If the Triple-A isn't exactly Yankee Stadium on an October night, it at least has become a cauldron of white noise during these playoffs.

The Heat came here looking to pull a Palace coup. It left the victim of an idiotic uprising instead.